Arrest made in 2009 killing of Border Patrol agent

FILE - This undated file image provided by the U.S. Border Patrol shows agent Robert Wimer Rosas, who was shot and killed while patrolling Thursday July 23, 2009 in southeastern San Diego County. Christian Daniel Castro Alvarez faces a maximum sentence of life in prison when he is sentenced for killing Rosas. (AP Photo/US Border Patrol, File)— AP

FILE - This undated file image provided by the U.S. Border Patrol shows agent Robert Wimer Rosas, who was shot and killed while patrolling Thursday July 23, 2009 in southeastern San Diego County. Christian Daniel Castro Alvarez faces a maximum sentence of life in prison when he is sentenced for killing Rosas. (AP Photo/US Border Patrol, File)
/ AP

Marcos Manuel Rodriguez Perez was identified by Tijuana police as the killer of Robert Rosas, a U.S. Border Patrol agent who was gunned down on July 23, 2009. Rodriguez was arrested while driving in Tijuana. — Sergio Ortiz of Frontera

Marcos Manuel Rodriguez Perez was identified by Tijuana police as the killer of Robert Rosas, a U.S. Border Patrol agent who was gunned down on July 23, 2009. Rodriguez was arrested while driving in Tijuana.
/ Sergio Ortiz of Frontera

TIJUANA  Municipal police in Tijuana on Monday announced the arrest of a second man in the ambush-murder of U.S. Border Patrol Agent Robert Rosas Jr. near Campo in July 2009.

Marcos Manuel Rodriguez Perez, 26, was captured Monday in the La Mesa section of the city, said Adrian Hernandez Perez, general director of the Tijuana Municipal Police. Reading from a statement, Hernandez identified Rodriguez as the agent’s killer but did not elaborate.

The arrest was announced at a news conference at a Tijuana police substation. The news media was then taken to Rodriguez’s jail cell, where he was brought out to be photographed and briefly questioned by reporters. When asked about his profession, he said he was a welder.

Rodriguez, a Tijuana native, is one of three men authorities believe were involved in the death of Rosas. A third is still being sought.

In April 2010, Christian Daniel Castro Alvarez, 17, of Mexico, pleaded guilty for his role in the murder and was sentenced to 40 years in prison.

On July 23, 2009, Rosas, 30, was on patrol near Campo about 9 p.m. He reported to other agents that he was tracking a group of illegal immigrants near the fence along the international border. Three men lured him by leaving footprints, making noise and shaking bushes. He called for backup from other agents before his radio went dead.

When Rosas investigated, he was ambushed, disarmed and shot to death. Nearby agents heard gunshots. When they arrived, they found Rosas’ abandoned car still running and his body about 10 yards from the border fence.

An autopsy report showed Rosas had been shot nine times, with several rounds to the head.

U.S. District Court records show Castro told authorities he and his co-conspirators planned to cross into the United States from Mexico that night and rob a Border Patrol agent. In a letter to the judge at the sentencing, Castro said he “never wanted things to be this way.”

Rosas was the father of two young children and was known as the unofficial “mayor of El Centro” because he knew so many people. About 5,000 people came out to honor him at his funeral.

Castro surrendered at the border in August 2009. He agreed to be charged as an adult and pleaded guilty on Nov. 20, 2009, to the murder of a federal officer during a robbery, as well as aiding and abetting.

Court records show that after Rosas was lured into the trap, Castro held him at gunpoint while the others went to his vehicle. Castro said that at one point Rosas grabbed the gun and the two struggled.

Tijuana authorities said Monday that Rodriguez, also known as “El Virus,” was stopped in a car. A warrant had been issued for his arrest by the federal attorney general’s office in Mexico. The agency worked with Tijuana police and the FBI, said Hernandez, the police official.

Darrell Foxworth, the FBI spokesman in San Diego, said the investigation into Rosas’ death is ongoing and involves U.S. and international law enforcement agencies. He said it would be inappropriate at this time to comment further on the case.